Tokyo Disney Resort is comprised of unique facilities, each with distinct themes and fun elements, that harmonize to create an area filled with high-quality amenities, hospitality and entertainment.
Besides two Disney Parks, Tokyo Disney Resort also offers world-class hotels and a shopping complex. These facilities are designed in congruence with the two Parks.
In this chapter, we will introduce the facilities outside the Parks to show how Tokyo Disney Resort, which encompasses the entire Maihama area, developed from the single theme park of Tokyo Disneyland.
The history of the resort project for the Maihama area goes back to the “Oriental Land Basic Project (leisure facilities)” plan of 1974, which contained our original concept for the future of the reclaimed land in Urayasu. The specific project planning began soon after the opening of Tokyo Disneyland in 1983. We met with The Walt Disney Company many times to consider the future development of the area surrounding the Park. In 1984, the “Tokyo Disney World Framework” was determined and the two companies started work on the joint development.
Concepts for various facilities in addition to a second theme park were outlined in the “Land for an Amusement Park Project” formulated in 1985. The aim was to develop the entire Maihama area into a high-quality entertainment area and to make it a globally recognized leisure-recreation destination. Later in 1988, we set up the Maihama Area Monorail Business Feasibility Research Project Team so that a monorail system could be added to the Resort project.
Negotiations between Disney and Oriental Land continued, with the “Development of Park Environs Plan” finally being concluded in 1994. The development plan for this area envisioned the creation of a distinctive “themed city” that would offer a new style of recreation for the 21st century through food, art and leisure pursuits. The plan also called for an elegant hotel themed to the Golden Age of Hollywood that would offer high-quality services. This plan became the basis for the development of Ikspiari and Disney Ambassador Hotel, the first hotel to be operated by Oriental Land.
In 1996, formalized as the “Development of the Maihama Station Area Project,” the plan to establish Japan’s first Disney branded hotel, a shopping complex, and a new transportation system was decided.
In 1995, we reorganized the company’s business structure with two objectives for the future. One was to ensure that we would be able to make important contributions to Tokyo Disney Resort in the future. And the other was to bring to fruition the new facilities outlined in our uniquely developed large-scale business projects which also entailed high expectations for the future of the company. To accomplish these objectives, five projects were launched: construction of a Second Theme Park, development of the Maihama Station Area, start of the hotel business, introduction of a new transportation system, and listing the company on the stock exchange.
The following year, we enacted “OLC 2010 VISION,” a new corporate philosophy based on what we wanted to achieve by 2010. This was not simply a business growth strategy. It was our vision for what the company should ideally be in all aspects of our corporate activities and in our corporate mission of “creating happiness and contentment by offering wonderful dreams and moving experiences through original and imaginative ideas.”
On December 11, 1996, we listed our company shares on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange as a means to secure enough funding for the Second Theme Park and the other new facility projects. After listing the shares, we were able to progress rapidly on bringing the projects to fruition.
To be more effective in producing the new facilities, we also strengthened our business organization by establishing the following companies: Maihama Resort Hotels Co., Ltd. in 1996 (Milial Resort Hotels Co., Ltd. since 2006) to operate the hotels; Maihama Resort Line Co., Ltd. in 1997; and Ikspiari Co., Ltd. in 1999 to manage and operate the shopping complex, Ikspiari. Also, in August 1998 while the various new businesses in the Maihama area were moving forward, we set up the in-house “Maihama Area Resort Promotion Committee” for the purpose of unifying the entire area including the theme parks. Through the work of this committee, the appeal and value of the entire Maihama area was enhanced and we were able to standardize the guest services offered at the Resort.
The name “Tokyo Disney Resort” was announced in 1998 and construction of the various facilities for the Resort progressed in stages with many of them opening in 2000.
Both Ikspiari and Disney Ambassador Hotel began operations on July 7, 2000, followed by Disney Resort Line on July 27, 2001. Tokyo DisneySea Park and Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta opened in September 2001, creating rapid changes within Tokyo Disney Resort during a span of just two years.
In eighteen years and five months from the grand opening of Tokyo Disneyland in April 1983, the Maihama area had evolved dramatically into Tokyo Disney Resort, a leisure-recreation destination for multi-day stays.
Our story is not finished yet, as Oriental Land Co., Ltd. and Tokyo Disney Resort will continue to keep on growing and expanding.
